Six Year Old With an Eating Disorder

Symptoms of a food supply and inactive lifestyle gone awry. Until these problems are addressed it will be more of the same, a lot more. I have no idea how to do anything about it that will make a difference other than in my own life.
:-(

I saw an episode of the Tyra Banks show where she interviewed a 9 year old with anorexia. It was so horrible...this little girl would spit her food out, dump her food in the toilet, etc., because she "didn't want to get fat like Mommy". Geez, how bad would you feel as that girl's mom?

Where on earth do children get such eating disorders from? Is it from watching TV, their friends at school ... or their parents?

It blows my mind, it really does.

I thinks it's in the nature of children to be easily influenced. The 6 year-old-girl with eating problem, excessive exercise and fear of weight gain was probably under the wrong influence of diet. It could be something she saw on TV or behaviors she noticed with the people around her.

Nine year olds do not get anorexia because they "don't want to get fat like mommy". Yes children are easily influenced but that is just a very small piece of this picture. Think about it - who WANTS to be fat? Pretty much no one. How many of us are overweight despite that? Many, many more of us than have eating disorders. So, why don't we all spit out our food and dump our dinner in the toilet then??? Because that is not a "normal" way to avoid gaining weight, and because anorexia is a complex mental health disorder and it is not about food or fat, it is about control. I am willing to bet the issues in these families and with these little girls are much, much, much more complex than any silly talk show could skim the surface of.

Also I have a question - why is this, despite the very low occurence rate, described as a "trend"? It may well be, but to convince me of that I'd need to see the data that demonstrates the rate of occurence is rising. The article states that these are the "first ever" national figures - I wouldn't want to deny it is a trend, just have no proof that it is on the upswing. Perhaps there were cave children with eating disorders and ancient Babylonian children with eating disorders and Aztec children with eating disorders and ... you get the picture. We just don't know.

Man, this is heart breaking. There's so much pressure on kids any way, but be worried about body image that young?

Wow.

Brian

It's probaly peer pressure, the media, a need for control?
Maybe it's the reports in the papers about eating disorders that alerted them that such things exist and they follow suit .Ironically,sometimes too much knowledge harms.

I'm more concerned about their brain development...
If they are not getting enough nutrition at such a tender age, their intelligence may get affected.

In some cases, the parents have an influence. I saw my sister-in-law tell my 8-year-old niece she wasn't going to have dinner, just a Slim Fast, "cause otherwise I'll get fat and daddy will leave me", in those words. A few breaths later, both her and her mother told the child she was getting fat. It doesn't take a genius to figure the child will think she'll get fat and daddy will leave *her* as well.

And yes, she did get an ED, just not anorexia, in this case, but binge-eating. Her brother is anorexic, though. So saying stuff like that is a great way to raise children with EDs.

While issues around the media and the socialization of bodies may be a factor, in children this young, there's almost certainly a strong neurological or biochemical component. Research has established a genetic component in some eating disorders. Unfortunately, once they start undereating, further brain development and emotional/psychosocial development probably deteriorates.

This makes me so sad. I think a lot of it has to do with the people in their lives. Kids are influenced by a lot more than folks realize and hear and see more than they realize too. I have struggled with my weight for the last several years. But I try so hard to not use the f word (fat) or the d word (diet). If my daughter and I talk about foods, we just talk about eating healthy and staying active to keep our bodies healthy. And we talk about wanting to stay healthy so that we can do more things - play and run, etc. I make it a point to NEVER say anything about how we eat having anything to do with how we look. I'm sure that discussion might come at a later date, but right now, she doesn't need to know that. And I try really, really hard (this is the toughie) to not criticize myself in front of her or act unhappy with my body. I have had self esteem issues (which I think have a lot to do with my weight issues) all my life and I'm trying so hard to build hers up so she doesn't have the same problems I do. Also, I didn't have good role models for healthy eating and exercise in my life growing up so I'm trying to emulate that for her as well.

I don't disagree that a lot of eating disorders don't stem from body image, but from control issues and other such problems. But my sister was anorexic in high school and I can tell you that it all started when the popular girls in school started telling her she was fat. Maybe that got the ball rolling and once she started, she saw that it could be used as a control thing with my mother and such, but it definitely started when she wanted to be thin like the popular girls. She started out at most 10-15 pounds overweight and ended up at 5'2", 80 lbs. Luckily, we got her help and she's doing great now. But I was just chatting with her the other day and it's an ongoing struggle. She will lie in her bed at night and go over in her head every single thing that went in her mouth that day. If she thinks she ate too much, then the next day she just doesn't eat. It's a shame that these kids are being affected by this terrible disorder at such a young age. Whether it's a trend or not, it's still disturbnig.

it was disturbing enough when i worked in a high school & could pick out the girls with eating disorders, but now it's moving into elementary schools? it just shows that there are larger problems in western society than previously thought.

It would be interesting to know what ratio of these prepubescents have other psychological disturbances besides the eating disorder. I would imagine that a significant portion are ED due to some factor other than body image - something such as the death of a loved one, divorce, abuse or neglect. It seems quite unusual for a child as young as 6 to even give a second thought to weight, especially when her weight is perfectly normal. Also I wonder if any are children of ED parents.

Here's a 7 year old with an eating disorder - he weighs in at 254 lbs!

Directs to a TV news Site:
http://www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articles-SPA-2007-03-21-0021.html

Kelly@dietfacts.com said:
I would imagine that a significant portion are ED due to some factor other than body image [...]

However it's tough to see or think of a 7 or 8 year old girl obsessing over food and body.

What ever happened to childhood?

That's very disturbing. High school girls are just getting started with diet at their age. But six-year-old worried about her body? That is definitely cause by influence. It could be what she saw on pictures and TV

Dr. Emily Major of Van der Biljt University has treated a 4 -year old with full blown anorexia!!!! My 4-year old niece once turned down popcorn because "I'll get fat". Until our culture changes it's ideals about body - our dieting obsessed culture will continue to exacerbate the problem.

Kelly@dietfacts.com said:
It would be interesting to know what ratio of these prepubescents have other psychological disturbances besides the eating disorder. I would imagine that a significant portion are ED due to some factor other than body image - something such as the death of a loved one, divorce, abuse or neglect. It seems quite unusual for a child as young as 6 to e[...]

Kelly and jj, I think you are on the right track. Yes I think there may be a commonality of poor body image amongst folks with eating disorders. But you have to remember, MANY people have a poor body image and the vast majority of them do NOT have an eating disorder. I don't think I have a great body image - sadly I spend more time thinking about my lumpy tummy and the 20 lbs I'd like to get rid than I want to admit - but to control it by refusing to eat or becoming bulemic is totally beyond my realm of comprehension - like most people I just could not conceive of going that route. For an eating order to develop there MUST be some other preexisting condition such as the neurological or biochemical component jj mentions. We just can't keep drawing direct correlations between our thin obsessed culture and eating disorders. It's not that simple. Psychology is not that simple.

+

Heather said:
This makes me so sad. I think a lot of it has to do with the people in their lives. Kids are influenced by a lot more than folks realize and hear and see more than they realize too. I have struggled with my weight for the last several years. But I try so hard to not use the f word (fat) or the d word (diet). If my daughter and I talk about foods, w[...]

I think you are doing a wonderful thing there, Heather. Let her come to you when looks start playing a part, when she is older. You have the right thinking.

soozeequeue, while you are right, poor self-esteem causes other issues, even if it never turns into an ED, like being more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol, depression, more likely to be promiscuous, more likely to be in an abusive relationship, and less likely to be academically successful. So it is important that it be combated regardless of EDs.

I had an ED and while I have the double whammy of a mother that has an ED and abuse, both of which are factors, I do think that her saying negative things about my weight was a huge cause of my ED.

Yeah I do think this is a trend in western cultures. I read a study about women who were raised in Egypt (I believe, it was a while ago, but I do remember they were from the Middle East) and then went to live in the US for various reasons (school, etc.) and their satisfaction with their body images and incidence of EDs increased. If that doesnt say something about our culture and how it helps encourage this, I dont know what does.

I definately think that the media has a big influence in eating disorders. Take talk shows for example... they are supposed to be helping these young people with disorders, yet it seems to me that they are just giving the person suffering from the disorder even more public attention for their actions.. attention that they desire in the first place, giving them a more intense drive to continue on with their self-destruction. These girls need serious help, not one hour on tv with a talk show host giving them even more ideas about how to be "better" at their disorder. Why give all these girls a public way to share tips with the other little girls who are sitting at home with an eating complex? It's ludacris.

my cousin is 10 (but started when she was also 9) and is in an out patient treatment program because she has anorexia with bulimic tendencies-its ridiculous.

so many children worry about being thin and having the perfect body well im 14 years old and i went threw it and you see all these modles looking so good having thin legs anda thin belly and you thrive to look like that
every day. Also when other people dont pay attention to you and tell you you dont have anything wrong with you.You start to think that. So you keep on doing what you are doing. then when someone acually notices that something is wrong it is to late and you can never go back.

it is so hard

thats a shame im sorry but if they are doing this because of wats on the teli then we need to do somthing seriose about that u could seriously die for doing that. i knew some one that starved there self and as dying in the hospital and died 3 mounths ago very sad i think parents should sit down with their childern and talk about it keep ur eyys open for the sings shme shame shame

I wonder if my 7 year old is on the path to anorexia - for as long as I can remember she has been obsessing about her weight. She is very thin and will point out foods that are fatty, she is excessively hairy on the legs and arms and has never worn clothing that "makes her look fat." This is not something that has just happened. When four she wouldn't sit next to a girl with "fat hands" and she often pulls out the skin on her tummy and says she's fat after a meal. I am normal weight, uninterested in diet, reasonably good cook but not pushing food or withholding for treats. I never mention weight, don't read women's mags or watch commercial television. I have had my daughter to a psychologist who says she suffers from anxiety but didn't want to explore her fear of fatness at this stage. That treatment has helped with my daughter's self-esteem and anxiety issues a fair bit. Our family is happy and healthy, with sensible eating habits, home cooked meals and a good social circle. Any advice, ideas?

Tell your daughter she'll never grow to be a woman unless she eats right. Kids are always into growing up, and being grown up. But your daughter will be a dwarf if she doesn't clean her plate.

Chris said:
I wonder if my 7 year old is on the path to anorexia [...]

One thing I do know - that kind of behavior in a child of that age is very abnormal.

I wonder though, how she learned which foods are fatty, and which clothes make her look fat? Perhaps from her peers, or maybe from other media forms.

I'm a recovering bulimic. Although you probably wouldn't guess it. My old friend was making herself sick. We're both overweight but I try not to let it ruin my life.
After putting on 4lbs from binging I decided to try to stop and with patience i've calmed down. I'm no longer excessively working out. I still do, and I eat at regular times.
She doesn't listen to anything anyone says. And personally, I think it's a trend. Everyone what's it to look 'cool'. What's so 'cool' about having baggy eyes, sunken chest, rotting teeth, bad breath etc. etc.?
Nothing.
Eaxctly! So why do most people I know claim to have one YET, haven't gone to the doctors? They woke up and said, 'hm, today I think i'll be anorexic.' Believe me there is nothing worse than waiting all night for the laxatives to work and you can lose a few pounds that you've been literally, dying, to lose. The media portrays a nasty image of girls in barely any clothing and stick thin. We should be having curvy women with atleast some form of clothing on. I've been on these 'Pro-Ana' sites. Though they do not tell you how to starve, be sick etc. They still back Anorexia. Young children should be kept away from such media, their mind corrupts at such an early age. They should be spending time with family and learning the benefits of nature. because walking and jogging are really fun, and exercise. A picnic? Healthy.
I just wish that someday these children don't look up to such models as, Kate Moss [I like the way she looks, though she isn't my role model.] or the Olsen twins, Paris Hilton. They should look up to people like Amy Lee.
I think music comes into it at some point aswell. These kids look up to rappers who have girls strapped to every available part of their body. They're all skinny. If a child looks up to that and thinks; 'I want to be her, i'm so fat. I need to be skinny like her' I, personally, this it's unnaceptable. In this society girls need to be thin to be accepted, pretty and popular.
You don't need this to be accepted by yourself. You're perfect the way you are and you've been built for the body in which you live. You can either choose to you it or abuse it.

I can't think of much us to say, but thanks if you read it all.
:]

In my opinion, if people would stop putting so much pressure and judgment on each other to look a certain way maybe things wouldn't be so hard on all of us. There isn't just the media with super models and dieting, but the ads for being healthy. Eat right, excercise more. Yes , I agree. We've become a society of media and everything is at our finger tips. We sit around and not do too much, especially in suburbia. Then, as women , we ae subjected not only by media but by our own opposite sex. I've heard them ," Oh check her out! She's so hot!" And it will be a woman with a girl figure. Very thin. I myself, do not want to look like a little boy with no hips and no breasts. Sorry, not my thing. There you have it. It's a pressure on a huge spectrum. It's our nature to be attractive because not only is it self- esteem , but procreation. Attract the opposite sex. We will do what is deemed nescessary in our brains to do that. I mean, when I was single, I would hear guys googling over a chick like that...it made me not want to eat much that day if at all. No word of a lie. The other thing what i wanted to say is this; The whole idea about anorexia and/or bulmia being a mental disorder or disease. I'm not too sure. First of all, you have to physically obstain from eating because it's your body's natural urge to tell you when it needs to be refueled giving you signals that you're hungry by thus giving you hunger pangs.Those pangs can hurt if left. Trust me I know. The whole purging, yeah, forced too obviously. I'm not too sure about this whole premis. I'm no doctor though.

Point is, accept each other we are all different. You can look like a super model and be defined as the most beaufitul person , but to me, if you're ugly on the inside you're just ugly period. ( If some jerk says I said that because I'm fat, guess again loser. I've hung around a lot of guys I know how you work. LOL ) The other thing is...listen to your body. If you're hungry eat...if your tummy is saying hey feed me then get something good for you and eat it. If it's not then back away from the fridge. That's all there is to it. If you have emotional issues don't drown it in food or too little food get help.

Its been one year since ive been in the hospital. Im alot healthier, but the emotional part is still their. I struggle when i see any other girl that is tiny, or go to the mall or any other stores. The way i deal with it is separate myself from the situation. I feel like i have to stay focused or i will go back instead of forward. Keep a journal and write down how you felt that day, and how you want to change it. You are the only one that looks in that journal nobody else is to. Just remember everything you try doesnt work but just don't give up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have personally struggled with an eating disorder, and I have to admit, the media was a large cause of the way I felt about my body. Continuous images are shown each day of models who are so thin that they could easily die, yet I felt that since this was being shown, and people around the world admired these stars, I would be admired by being thin as well. I have now overcome my eating disorder and can honestly say that am 100% healthy, but I definitely blame the media and the negative images available each day.

In today's society, the media enables teens and children to struggle with confidence and self esteem issues. Each day the media provides all watchers and listeners with unimportant and unhealthy news and images that can only harm peoples. The media preaches that being thin is the only way to be successful and therefore causes thousands of low esteemed men and women to reconsider ideal body weights. Personally, I feel that the media needs to suggest and provide viewers with healthy and intelligent role models rather than representatives who barely maintain their malnourished bodies.

I completely agree with what Stacey said she is 100% right!